Bluesky began as an initiative from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey back in 2019. Now, though, under new leadership at CEO Jay Graber, it has reinvented itself as an independent public benefit corporation. Since its launch in 2021, Bluesky has addressed the issues of moderation straight on. Simultaneously, it has introduced cutting-edge, experimental features to improve user experience. Bluesky, by contrast, employs a completely federated approach that allows for the creation of individually operated communities. This helps to better inform users and protect their freedom of mobility and choice.
So far, Bluesky has experienced exponential growth, particularly after the announcement of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. As of March 2025, the platform has more than 30 million users. This remarkable milestone is a testament to its increasing popularity. All this quick growth has not been without fallout, especially in the area of content moderation.
Origins and Development of Bluesky
The idea for Bluesky started developing in 2019 when Dorsey was still CEO of Twitter. He imagined an open, decentralized social networking protocol. This new protocol would put power back in the hands of users and counter the pernicious impacts of centralized platforms. By early 2021, Bluesky had spun off into its own independent company and was continuing a separate path to promote open dialogue and community-led discourse between networks.
Community control
Since its inception, Bluesky has touted its commitment to becoming a federated platform. An ecosystem that fosters innovation across tech communities, represented in its open-source bloodline. This new omni-channel approach aims to give consumers control and options over their digital journey.
Bluesky’s beta test does not allow users to connect to anything besides the bsky.social network at this time. The platform has recently implemented user-based algorithmic solutions such as “custom feeds”, which users can use to take control over their content consumption. This new feature first rolled out in May 2023. It moved from the old “What’s Hot” feed, which showcased the most popular posts.
“You’ll always have the freedom to choose (and to exit) instead of being held to the whims of private companies or black box algorithms. And wherever you go, your friends and relationships will be there too,” – Bluesky blog post
Addressing Moderation Challenges
Nonetheless, since its launch, Bluesky has continued to grapple with chronic moderation issues. But with a user base that skyrocketed in 2024, the platform saw an unprecedented 17-fold increase in moderation reports from this growth alone. Bluesky has made some improvements to mitigate these concerns and protect users. So they significantly increased their moderation team — now close to 100 members.
The ridesharing giant says it is dedicated to creating a safe experience for all users of its platform. The Bluesky Safety team is rightly going hard on impersonation and handle-squatting accounts. They claim they’ll take down these accounts in order to protect users from the threat of harassment and misinformation.
As Bluesky continues to evolve, it remains focused on enhancing its moderation processes to keep pace with its expanding user base. The platform earns credibility on its transparency promise by releasing an extensive moderation report in January 2025. In this report we’ll highlight all the ways we’re working to create a safer, more inclusive online community.
“Impersonation and handle-squatting accounts will be removed” – Bluesky Safety team
User Growth and Engagement
User engagement on Bluesky has exploded, increasing over 4000% in the past few months. As of early July 2023, the app is now over one million downloads on both the iOS and Android platforms. This momentum was first ignited by the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This impacted how people perceived centralized platforms and their policies, leading to increased interest in decentralized social media platforms such as Bluesky.
Users can interact with potentially harmful posts on Twitter using a number of immediate and highly interactive features including reply, retweet, like, report, and more. This multifaceted engagement system fosters community interaction while allowing users to express their opinions freely.
Unlike Bluesky which is quickly amassing a bigger user base. This makes it remarkable not only for its loaded agenda, but for its striking leadership against monetization advocacy typically seen on rival platforms. Through increasing awareness of biases and stereotypes, the app will work to level the playing field for all users. It sidesteps the much-maligned “pay to win” paradigms rife across other social media platforms.
“Pay to win” – X (referring to their premium offerings)
Looking Ahead
Today, Bluesky continues its journey of tremendous expansion and improvement. The organization’s commitment to its original values of decentralization and community empowerment has remained strong. The platform is more focused on providing users with as many options as possible. With solid moderation policies and practices, it remains a strong player and competitor in the social media space.
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